![](http://web.archive.org./web/20210128110528im_/http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_z9OnSxr2OHU/SVz8fA77lGI/AAAAAAAAATM/8gG6CKLpm0o/s320/cover.jpg)
For this entry we remain in Baltimore but go back a few years to 1985 for the Frantic Records sampler album
8 Essential Attitudes. The album cover depicts a can of "Cream of Baltimore" being poured onto a turntable
: do not do this! It will ruin your turntable! Fortunately the package contains a solid vinyl LP which is perfectly suited to playing on a turntable. The "8 Essential Attitudes" are eight indie bands from the Baltimore area:
- Red Tape - I Know
- exibit A - yippi-i-o
- Beyond Words - On the Moon
- Thee Katatonix - Ordinary Sunday
- The View - Only Water
- Mission - When Thunder Comes
- Off the Wall - She's All Mine
- Clever Lines - After the Snow Melts
The most accomplished band here is Off the Wall, but their big-band rockabilly style is decidedly out of place. Red Tape lean toward an AOR sound, Thee Katatonix are the closest thing to punk rock here, Mission have a gothic vibe belied by their preppy appearance, exibit A have an indie-twee sound, Clever Lines go for the grand sound of UK acts like Duran Duran and Simple Minds, and Beyond Words and The View play middle-of-the-road new wave pop. Not as diverse as the gathering on the
Merkin Seedy Sampler, but it's a smaller, earlier sample. Get the vinyl rip
here or
here. (I'm trying out flyupload with the second link; from what I've seen it has no waiting period and does allow download managers. Please let me know if there are any problems with it.)